Steven Soderbergh to Produce Off-Broadway Play ‘The Fears’ (Exclusive)

Steven Soderbergh will make his theatrical producing debut with The Fears, a new work premiering Off-Broadway this spring. 

The play, written by Emma Sheanshang (Every Girl Gets Her Man, Greetings From Tim Buckley) and directed by Dan Algrant (Sex and the City, People I Know), will run at the Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center in New York starting April 25. Opening night is scheduled for May 18. 

Soderbergh most recently directed Magic Mike’s Last Dance, after breaking out with films such as Traffic, Erin Brockovich and the Ocean’s series. In addition to his film work, Soderbergh has worked as a theatrical director, creating and directing the play Tot Mom at the Sydney Theatre Company in December 2009 and directing the world premiere of Scott Z. Burns’ play The Library at New York’s Public Theater in April 2014. He said he was drawn to this piece because of the writing. 

“I’d never entertained the idea of producing a play until I read Emma Sheanshang’s The Fears,” he said. “Her unique voice and specific blend of character, emotion, and story left me feeling ‘PEOPLE SHOULD REALLY SEE THIS,’ and so the adventure begins now.”

The Fears follows a group of “fractured souls” who meet weekly at a Buddhist center in New York City in order to seek solace and guidance. A new member attends the group and doesn’t know the rules, which creates “heated confrontations and deep meditations on how finding peace in a city of millions can be insanely hilarious,” according to the production. 

Stage and film producer John N. Hart Jr. is serving as executive producer for the play. Casting will be announced at a later date.